Lower Right Quadrant issues

[sidestitch]

Hi All,

I am new here. I'm a female in my early 20's with a lengthy history of GI problems, which have been dismissively labeled "stress-related" or IBS. I was treated for partial bowel obstruction when I was 11, during which time a sigmoidoscopy revealed a "full" colon. My gallbladder was removed last year due to gallstones. The biggest problem I am dealing with is my LRQ. For the past 10+ years a small area (maybe 4 inches down and 4 inches to the right of my bellybutton) has been acting up. It gurgles and makes strange growling noises, mostly after I eat (especially in the AM). The sounds are very loud! The area feels tight and almost like there is a bubble there. Immodium helps with the gurgling but doesn't eradicate this problem. I've tried various foods for breakfast, including gluten-free, to no avail. I have had a CT scan with contrast, and I don't think anything unusual was found. I am wondering if anyone else on here has experience with this issue, and, if so, what has helped. I would like to go to a dr, but I want to be taken seriously.

 

[lager87]

Thats exactly where my problem area is and i exprience the same symptoms. I had a colonoscopy that showed i had a major stricture (narrowing due to scar tissue). Theyre hoping my medicine will help it go down but thoughts of surgery to remove it are also up in the air. A doctor I work with advised me to start jogging/running. It helps to break up the scar tissue. Also, eat foods that are easy to digest (meaning stay away from raw vegetables, nuts, etc). Hope this helps.

 

[Gculk]

Exactly my problem. Hope you find out what's up!

I'm undiagnosed, waiting on getting to a second GI after first said 'Hemmorhoid and pulled muscle' everything else is normal, just pain, and clogged feeling.

 

[crazycanuck]

I won't diagnose anything but from what my doctor tells me that is the most common place people have issues with Crohn's disease. If i remember my biology right that is where the large and small intestines meet and is the source of very many problems including with myself.

 

[sidestitch]

Thanks for the replies.

Lager, I have been an avid runner for the past 15 years, and unfortunately it hasn't made a difference in that area. Would a stricture get worse over time? Whatever I have has remained consistent for over 10 years.

 

[ZM1019]

That is exactly where mine started and it did the exact same thing. That's also when I started with chronic constipation. My right side would pop out like I had a tumor. The first GI I had couldn't find Crohn's and he ordered an ultrasound, colonoscopy, endoscopy, bloodwork and biopsies. He found erosion in the esophagus/colon and two ulcers. He put me on Omeprazole and told me to quit eating starch (what I had started eating in Costa Rica when this started). That cleared up all of that, but when I had another colonoscopy/endoscopy and several biopsies, blood work and prometheus tests two years later they found the beginnings of Crohn's.

 

[Gculk]

ZM

How do you mean pop out? Would you have a visible bulge, or just one you could feel?

What were your symptoms at the time of diagnosis?

Nathan

 

[lager87]

Yes it could get worse over time. Thats what my doc is monitoring. If the meds dont help he said we would have to remove it. Are you currently seeing a doc? Have you had a colonoscopy? And yes what crazycanuck said is correct. It is where the large and small intestines meet and I have also been told its the most common spot for crohns to attack. Hope you get it figured out. Keep us posted.

 

[ZM1019]

ZM

How do you mean pop out? Would you have a visible bulge, or just one you could feel?

What were your symptoms at the time of diagnosis?

Nathan

Nathan,

Within 15 min my body would go from normal to something about the size of a grapefruit pushing out my right side. At the time I lived in Costa Rica and people could see it happen if they were in my office or in a meeting with me. I'd only been there two months and it freaked me and them out. After awhile, it never went away and I honestly thought I had an ovarian cyst or ovarian cancer. So I went to a GP there who told me in 5 min that it was my colon then sent me to get an ultrasound to be sure (checked my entire abdomen and sent me to a GI.

To this day if I eat any type of starch at all, that spot will pop out in 15 min and everyone can physically see it. It looks like the alien is going to pop out.

Besides that my symptoms were feeling like I had eaten glass. I felt like the starchy foods were cutting through my digestive system. Nothing else felt like that. Sometimes one grain of rice or starch in spices would put me in so much pain that I would be nauseous and I wouldn't eat for days (but I would gain weight like crazy that would just as suddenly disappear when it was over). I also had this feeling like someone was pulling my insides in opposite directions over and over (not cramps but like a drawing sensation) and I could literally feel something liquid inside me sticking together and moving around like the stuff in a lava lamp. It was truly bizarre.

They never did find bacteria in me although they tested me for everything right away because that's what they thought caused it.

 

[Gculk]

Wow, that's fascinating. Horrible, but fascinating nonetheless.

I can't say I have that major of an issue, but sometimes I feel pressure and whatever and swear I could feel it swollen there, probably the size of a clementine, that's why I asked about a hernia with 1st doctor. Might just be poop built up there, no doctor has ever felt it when they've done checks, but it's never been there when they've done em either (checked before).

When I'm clogged up like that I can feel like it's liquid getting squished through a narrow opening and sounds like a squelch sort of sound.

When I used to bleed more, I would literally feel the tickle of a single drop of blood trickling down from where I have pain. At least, that's what I figure it was. It was always associated with more bloody poop, so seems a safe bet.

Weird stuff

Nathan

 

[ZM1019]

The doctors in Costa Rica told me it was because I was blocking up from inflammation. Basically what happens is that my body identifies starch as the enemy and mounts an attack (they and I believe that is direct result of damage from Alleve and the fact that I ate starchy foods to coat my stomach because Alleve bothered me so it leaked the starch outside my gut and caused my liver to recognize it as a toxin). So my white blood cells go crazy even though I don't have an infection and my body inflames. That's why the big weight gain that disappears when the flare up is over.

I never noticed blood except from having a stool so large that it rips my hemmarhoids. (Those are left over from fibroid tumor damage years ago and predate all of this.) I've had to go to the ER because of major bleeding from that and a GI in the ER confirmed it was only from the hemmarhoids.

The strangest thing is that I don't react at all to the normal trigger foods for Crohn's but that could be because my Crohn's has just started. My problems (erosion in the esophagus/colon and ulcers) predate the Crohn's. My GI suspects that because of those problems, something triggered the Crohn's and that sounds logical to me. My symptoms are unusual for Crohn's and I was very late onset (52). Thankfully they diagnosed my Crohn's right away so they are hopeful they can quickly get it under control. My GI even hopes that I will be able to tolerate small amounts of starch again someday and that would be really nice because they put that crap in everything as a binder.

 

[Gculk]

Heh, yeh. Once they have you in remission, the generally accepted statement is that you can eat whatever you want. I am sure there are some caveats, and information saying certain diets help maintain remission better, but hopefully it will be doable for ya.

I get anal bleeding occasionally, same thing, if it's too hard, too big, or I've gotta wipe too often I'll get a bit of tissue. Never worry about that. I only count it when the blood is congealed/dark on my poop, or if it comes prepackaged in the mucus I pass with my stool.

Nathan

 

[KatyBuckeye]

That is exactly where mine started and it did the exact same thing. That's also when I started with chronic constipation. My right side would pop out like I had a tumor. The first GI I had couldn't find Crohn's and he ordered an ultrasound, colonoscopy, endoscopy, bloodwork and biopsies. He found erosion in the esophagus/colon and two ulcers. He put me on Omeprazole and told me to quit eating starch (what I had started eating in Costa Rica when this started). That cleared up all of that, but when I had another colonoscopy/endoscopy and several biopsies, blood work and prometheus tests two years later they found the beginnings of Crohn's.

Could you tell me where at in the RLQ this would "pop out". I was just recently diagnosed with Crohn's. Probably about 7 years ago, I started noticing a bulge that would come and go with very mild pain. It was in my groin area in the RLQ, not far from where the thigh meets the torso and about the size of a large grape. I thought that it was caused by an ovarian cyst or even something more serious like a tumor. Although I do have a history of ovarian cysts, doctors that I've seen about this bulge were stumped and ruled out hernia, etc. Now that I've received the Crohn's diagnosis, I am stressed beyond belief and having a huge flare-up. I've been noticing the return of this bulge. I wonder if it is similar to what you are describing.

 

[ZM1019]

Mine was about five inches below my rib cage. It wasn't in the groin. I was also checked for a hernia and it wasn't that.

 

[bwinder925]

I am in the exact same boat.